I received the Hepatitis B vaccine in 1999 and never got confirmation of whether the vaccine worked. I had a girl perform oral sex on me on Feb. 5th, 2004 and went to my doctor to run STD and the Hep B panel blood tests on Feb. 24th, 2004. He ran the Hepatitis B Surface Antigen and Hepatitis B Core AB, IGM tests and both came back non-reactive. On May 14th, 2004 I got drunk (stupid, i know) and had an encounter (no sex of any kind, but naked rubbing of genitals without penetration) with another girl and asked my doctor to run STD and the Hep B panel blood tests again on May 24th, 2004 and I received the following results: Hepatitis B Surface Antibody, Quant - 68.2 mIU/ml (indicates immunity). Hepatitis B Surface Antigen - Non-reactive. Hepatitis B Core Antibody, IGM - Reactive. Hepatitis B Core Antibody Total, Reactive. Can you please help me interpret these results - do I have an active Hepatitis B infection and can I infect others? Was I recently infected despite having the vaccine in 1999? If I have had a recent infetion, is it possible for the Hepatitis B Core Antibody IGM test to come back reactive 10 days after an encounter or is this from an earlier encounter? Thank you so much for your help!

Response from Dr. Dieterich

Yes it is possible, but it is also possible that you always had the antibodies or that the last test was wrong. You need a HBVDNA by PCR if it is negative, then you are fine. Just repeat in 3-6 months once. Good luck and stay safe! Maybe you should carry a condom! DTD

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